Contact number encapsulation system

ABSTRACT

A contact number encapsulation system is disclosed that is operable to consolidate a plurality of contact numbers associated with a given user into a single contact number. The system includes a call processing application that uses information contained in a SIP message header to determine a list of contact numbers to call. The SIP message header contains a call destination indication that is used by the call processing application to retrieve the list of contact numbers. The list of contact numbers is user defined and may be updated or modified by an account holder at any given time. Once the list of contact numbers is obtained, a simultaneous call module is used to simultaneously call each number contained in the list. As such, the account holder only needs to provide the primary contact number to individuals desiring to reach him/her instead of various numbers that are associated with various locations the account holder may be located.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to communication systems andmore particularly, to a method and system for allowing telephone usersto cause multiple phone lines to ring when a calling party dials asingle primary contact number thereby eliminating the need for providingmultiple contact numbers to third parties.

2. Related Art

The history of modern-day communications technology can be said to havestarted when Samuel Morse invented the wire line telegraph in 1832.However, it was Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone, in1874, that led to the development of our present day communicationstechnology. Morse had simply created a way for humans to extend theirability to transfer information—instantly—over great distances. Bellgave us the ability to have the most intimate form of communication overdistances—the use of our voices. As readily apparent, the invention ofthe telephone has dramatically changed the manner in which peoplecommunicate with one another and most people have telephones located atvarious access points or locations at any given time and are responsiblefor knowing or having access to various contact numbers associated withthem.

The concept of the telephone instrument, as well as the system thatallows it to work, was initially so strong that most communicationtechnology developed during the past 125 years supports an efficientvoice communication network. It wasn't until 2004 that majortelecommunication carriers announced the need to develop, and support, anetwork designed for the purpose of transporting digital data. From 1874to 1980, communication networks around the world were constructed tofacilitate the efficient and economical transmission of voiceconversations. Multiplexing and digital transmission systems weredeveloped to “cram” more voice conversations into the existing copperwire communication facilities.

The Internet, first developed in 1973 as a project for the U.S.Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA),initiated a profound change in the future development of communicationnetworks and technologies. Originally called the Arpanet, linkingseveral Universities and research laboratories, it evolved into theworld wide web (“WWW”). During this period, there were a number ofsignificant technology advances and government enforced corporatereorganizations that helped to change the direction of communicationsystems development. Computing and communications technologies wereprovided a big boost by the invention of the integrated circuit (IC) in1959. The IC permitted development and manufacture of smaller and moreautomated communication devices at a very low cost. The CarterphoneDecision, by the U.S. Supreme Court, in 1968, made it possible for theconnection of non-telephone company owned devices (until this point,only devices owned and operated by the telephone companies werepermitted). In the 1970s, fiber strands were first used as acommunication medium. In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court mandatedreorganization of AT&T was enforced.

New inventions coupled with increasing business and consumer demand forcomputer and data communication services forced a change in, the natureof the development of communications networks. By 1995, mostinstallation of communications networks was devoted to the efficienttransmission of data generated by computers. However, these networkswere still based on a voice communication design. The development andintroduction of broadband data communications standards (“IEEE 802Series”) helped to create a demand for communication networks designedto support data communications. By 2003, wireless (cellular telephone)networks were available to almost every location of the United States(remote wilderness areas still lack coverage). According to the CellularTelecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), in 2003 there weremore than 148 million wireless subscribers, and 92% were using digitalservice.

As communication technology continues to move forward and various typesof devices become available that are capable of allowing people tocommunicate with one another, the amount of contact numbers associatedwith individuals will continue to grow dramatically. It is not uncommonfor any given person to have four or five different contact numbersassociated with them at any given time. For example, it is not uncommonfor a single person to have a home phone number, a work phone number, awireless terminal phone number, and a facsimile number. As a result, itis increasingly difficult to get in contact with any given individualbecause the calling party may not know exactly where the person they aretrying to reach is located. Further, the calling party may only know onephone number for the individual they are trying to reach.

As a result of the aforementioned problems, a need exists for acommunication encapsulation system that will work in conjunction with awide variety of communication devices and systems to allow a singleperson to have one primary contact number instead of multiple contactnumbers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A contact number encapsulation system is disclosed that allows anaccount holder to be assigned a primary contact number for use inconnection with conducting voice-based communication. Although theprimary contact number is preferentially for use in voice communication,the contact number encapsulation system may also be capable of receivingincoming facsimiles as well. The primary contact number may be a customtelephone number that is assigned to a user at the time of account setupor it may be a telephone number that is transferred from a previousservice provider at the time of account setup. The contact numberencapsulation system allows people desiring to contact the owner of theprimary contact number to use one number to reach the owner at variouslocations instead of the contact number that may be assigned to theowner at each respective location. Dialing the primary contact numberwill cause a plurality of user designated contact numbers to ring at thesame time, thereby allowing individuals to only have one telephonenumber associated with them instead of multiple contact numbers forvarious locations.

The contact number encapsulation system may include a calling terminalthat a caller may use to attempt to reach the owner of the primarycontact number. Once the primary contact number is dialed by the callingterminal, the call may be routed to a call router through the assistanceof various different types of communication networks depending on whatnetwork the calling terminal is connected with at the time of making thecall. The call router is operable to route the call to a predetermineddestination. The primary contact number may be contained in a list in adatabase associated or connected with the call router that associatesthe primary contact number with a call processor server. The call routermay use a lookup module to determine an IP address the call should berouted to by the call router, which in the present invention,corresponds to the call processor server.

The call processor server may include a validation module thatdetermines if the primary contact number that is associated with theincoming call is a valid primary contact number. If the call designatesa valid contact number, an answering module may answer the incoming callthereby establishing a communication session between the callingterminal and the call processor server. If the incoming call is afacsimile, the answering module will forward the call to a facsimilemodule that is operable to receive the incoming facsimile images andthen forward them to a user designated email address as an attachment.If the incoming call is a voice call, the answering module may forwardthe call to an interactive voice response application.

The interactive voice response application may include a message modulethat plays a short introductory message recorded by the owner of theprimary contact number or a default computer generated message. Aservice option module may then be used to present the calling party withvarious contact options (e.g.—“Press 1 to contact Jane Doe”, “Press 2 toleave a message for Jane Doe” and so forth). If the user selects theoption associated with contacting the owner of the primary contactnumber (e.g.—by pressing 1 on the calling terminal), a multiple contactmodule may prompt the user to record a short introductory message(e.g.—“Please state your name”). The multiple contact module may storethe message and then use a multiple contact lookup module to generate alist of contact numbers associated with the owner of the primary contactnumber.

The owner of the primary contact number may provide with at least twooptions to manage his/her account. The first option is a web-enabledcontrol panel that allows the owner to enter contact numbers to beassociated with the primary contact number. As such, once the owner logsinto his/her account, they are provided with a control panel that allowsthem to enter the telephone numbers they want contacted if the primarycontact number is dialed. The second option is a voice portal menu-basedoption, which allows the owner to call the primary contact number, enterdesignated access codes, and gain access to his/her account. The ownermay then be provided with a menu of options that allows the owner toenter, edit, or delete contact numbers from their respective contactnumber list.

Once the list of contact numbers associated with the primary contactnumber is obtained or generated, a simultaneous calling module may beused to setup a plurality of calling sessions with all of the terminalsassociated with the numbers contained in the contact list. As such, thesimultaneous calling module simultaneously calls every number in thecontact list to attempt to reach the owner of the primary contactnumber. If the owner of the primary contact number answers one of theterminals, a media session may be established between the call receptionterminal and the call processor server. The multiple contact module maythen play the short introductory message recorded by the caller to theowner and prompt the owner to either accept the call or send the call tovoice mail. If the owner accepts the call, a voice based media sessionis established between the calling terminal and the call receptionterminal. If the owner declines to accept the call, the calling partymay then be directed to a voice mail application by the multiple contactmodule.

The contact number encapsulation system allows individuals to have onecontact number associated with them instead of a plurality of contactnumbers. Multiple contact numbers are difficult to remember, timeconsuming to locate, and time consuming to call each location that theparty may be in an attempt to locate them. The present inventionprovides a method of allowing individuals to only have one contactnumber associated with them while at the same time allowing them to bereached at various locations in which they may have different contactnumbers. The contact number encapsulation system is operable tosimultaneously dial every user designated contact number that may beassociated with the account owner when the primary contact number of theowner is dialed.

Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention willbe, or will become apparent to one with skill in the art uponexamination of the following figures and detailed description. It isintended that all such additional systems, methods, features andadvantages be included within this description, be within the scope ofthe invention, and be protected by the following claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasisinstead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.Moreover, in the figures, like reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 represents an illustrative communication network in which anembodiment of the present invention may operate.

FIG. 2 is a table illustrating the association between a primary contactnumber and a plurality of other contact numbers associated with a givenaccount holder.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for a call processing application.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for an interactive voice response application.

FIG. 5 represents an illustrative user account management interface thatallows an account holder to modify their user account attributes and/orsettings.

FIG. 6 represents an illustrative menu setup for a user account voicecontrol portal.

FIG. 7 a illustrates representative SIP commands or methods used by thecontact number encapsulation system to establish a session between acalling terminal and a call receiving terminal.

FIG. 7 b illustrates representative SIP message header information usedby the contact number encapsulation system to call a plurality of callreceiving terminals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a logical network flow in which a contact numberencapsulation system 10 may function is illustrated. The contact numberencapsulation system 10 allows a caller, with the assistance of acalling terminal 12, to place voice calls, send faxes, and send textmessages to a call reception terminal 14 over a communication network11. The calling terminal 12 or the call reception terminal 14 may be awireless terminal, a wired terminal or phone, a facsimile terminal, anInternet based terminal using voice-over IP (“VoIP”) technology or anyone of a variety of other types of communication devices. For thepurpose of the present invention, it is important to note that thecommunication network 11 is operable to allow communication,preferentially voice-based communication, to be conducted between thecalling terminal 12 and the call reception terminal 14. This isaccomplished by establishing a communication path or link between therespective terminals 12, 14 being used by the parties to communicate.

The communication network 11 may include an incumbent local exchangecarrier (“ILEC”), a competitive local exchange carrier (“CLEC”), aregional bell operating company (“RBOC”) 16 that is connected with thecalling terminal 12. In the alternative, the calling terminal 12 may bea wireless terminal, in which case the calling terminal may be connectedwith a wireless communication system 17. The calling terminal 12 mayconnect to the communication network 11 through the use of a wirelessterminal, a traditional wired terminal or phone, a facsimile terminal,or through the use of an Internet based terminal using voice-over IP(“VoIP”) technology. The ILEC 16 may be connected with a PSTN 18. ThePSTN 18 may be connected with an inter-exchange carrier (“IXC”) 20 thatis capable of providing interstate (i.e.—long distance) communicationsservices within the U.S.

The IXC 20 may be connected with an Internet portal 22. The Internetportal 22 may rely on different types of communication protocols thatallow communication to be conducted over the communication network 11.The Internet portal 22 may use session initiation protocol (“SIP”) tocommunicate or transport data as well as to initiate various types ofactions to be taken over portions of the communication network 11. SIPis an IP telephony signaling protocol developed by the InternetEngineering Task Force (“IETF”). It is primarily used for VoIP calls,however, SIP can also be used for video or any media type. SIP may alsobe used in conjunction with the instant messaging and presenceleveraging extensions (“SIMPLE”) for instant messaging.

SIP is a text-based protocol that is based on HTTP and MIME, therebymaking it suitable and very flexible for integrated voice-dataapplications. SIP is a signaling protocol used for establishing sessionsin an IP network. SIP is designed for real-time transmission, uses fewerresources and is considerably less complex than H.323. Its addressingscheme uses universal resources locators (“URLs”) and is human readable;for example: sip:xyz@entity.com. SIP relies on the session descriptionprotocol (“SDP”) for session description and the real-time transportprotocol (“RTP”) for actual data transport. In the present invention,once the session is established, RTP may be used to transmit the media(e.g.—audio) between the calling terminal 12 and the call receptionterminal 14.

SDP is an IETF protocol that defines a text-based message format fordescribing a multimedia session. Data such as version number, contactinformation, broadcast times and audio and video encoding types areincluded in the message. RTP is an IP protocol that supports real-timetransmission of voice and video data streams. It is widely used for IPtelephony and audio and video streaming. An RTP packet rides on top ofUDP, the counterpart of TCP, and includes time-stamping andsynchronization information in its header for proper reassembly at thereceiving end. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the contact numberencapsulation system 10 may use RTP to transmit audio or video databetween the calling terminal 12 and the contact terminals 14 via thecall processor server 30.

The Internet portal 22 may be connected with a call router or proxyserver 24, which is a network device that forwards data packets from onenetwork to another. Based on internal routing tables, routers read eachincoming packet and decide how to forward it. To which interface on therouter outgoing packets are sent may be determined by any combination ofsource and destination address as well as current traffic conditions(load, line costs, bad lines, etc.). In the present invention, the callrouter 24 may be used to route or direct a call (i.e.—packets of data)being made by the calling terminal 12 to the appropriate or designatedcall reception terminal 14. The Internet portal 22 may also be connectedwith an Internet service provider (“ISP”) 23 that allows various typesof calling terminals 12 (e.g.—personal computers, VoIP terminals) tocommunicate over the communication network 11.

As set forth in greater detail below, once the call and its associateddata reach the call router 24, the call router 24 may include a routingmodule 26 that determines where the call should be directed or routed.To determine where the call should be routed, the routing module 26 mayquery a routing database 28. The routing database 28 may contain arouting table that includes a destination address that is dependent oninformation contained in the call's SIP message header. In the presentinvention, the information or data contained in the call's SIP messageheader causes the call router 24 to forward the call to a call processorgateway server 26. The data in the call's SIP message header that therouting module 26 may use corresponds to a primary contact or telephonenumber that the caller dialed when placing the call from the callingterminal 12. The primary contact number that the calling terminal 12dials causes the call router 24 to forward the call to the callprocessor gateway server 26 which then further processes the call.

Referring to FIG. 2, the primary contact number may be a user specifictelephone number that is assigned to a respective user account at thetime the account is setup by the contact number encapsulation system 10.In the alternative, the primary contact number may be transported to thecontact number encapsulation system 10 from another carrier via LocalNumber Portability (“LNP”). As set forth in greater detail below, theowner of the primary contact number may designate a list of contactnumbers to be associated with the primary contact number. The right-handcolumn of the table illustrated in FIG. 2 contains a list of contactnumbers that may be associated with the primary contact number listed inthe left-hand column. When a caller dials the primary contact number inan attempt to reach the account owner, the contact number encapsulationsystem 10 retrieves the list of associated contact numbers set forth inFIG. 2 and simultaneously calls all of the contact numbers contained inthe list.

Referring to FIG. 3, the call processor gateway server 30 may include acall processing application 32. The call processing application 32 mayreceive a call at step 34 from the call router 24 that designates aprimary contact number. Once received, the call processing application32 may include a validation module 36 that determines if the call is avalid primary contact number for the call processor gateway server 26.If the call identifies an invalid primary contact number or a number notassociated with the service being provided, the validation module 36 mayreturn the call to the sender at step 40. If the call identifies a validprimary contact number, an answering module 38 may answer the call. Theanswering module 38 may forward the call to an interactive voiceresponse application 42. The interactive voice response application 42may access a user database 44 that may contain user preferences andvoice recordings to further handle the call, as set forth in greaterdetail below.

Referring to FIG. 4, the interactive voice response application 42 mayinclude a message module 46. The message module 46 may access a defaultmessage 48 or a user recorded message 50 that may be stored in the userdatabase 44. When the call is answered by the answering module 38, theanswering module 38 may answer the call and forward it directly to theinteractive voice response application 42. The message module 46 mayaccess an account associated with the primary contact number to retrieveeither the default message 48 or the user recorded message 50. Themessage module 46 may use the call receiver's primary contact number asan identifier to lookup the respective message to play. By way ofexample only, the default message 48 may consist of a computer generatedgreeting and the user recorded message 50 may consist of a shortrecording made by the owner of the primary contact number.

After the initial message or greeting is played by the message module46, the call may be passed or directed to a service option module 52.The service option module 52 may provide a user of the calling terminal12 with a plurality of options. In an illustrative embodiment of thepresent invention, the service option module 52 may include a multiplecontact module 54, a voice mail application 56, and a direct transfermodule 58. The multiple contact module 54 may prompt the caller torecord a short introduction message, such as the name of the caller,which is illustrated at step 60. The multiple contact module 54 may thenuse a multiple contact lookup module 62 to retrieve a list of contactnumbers associated with the primary contact number from the userdatabase 44. As set forth in greater detail below, users of the presentinvention are allowed to store, modify and edit a plurality of terminalcontact numbers that are associated with the primary contact number thatmay be stored in the user database 44.

The multiple contact lookup module 62 may then pass the retrieved listof contact numbers to a calling module 64 that is operational tosimultaneously call all of the contact numbers contained in the list ofcontact numbers. In other words, the calling module 64 simultaneouslydials all of the contact numbers associated with the primary contactnumber at the same time so that all of the call reception terminals 14associated with the call receiver ring or are called at the same time.This allows the call receiver, who may have numerous telephone numbers,to give out and use one contact number (i.e.—the primary contact number)to be reached at various locations instead of using individual numbersfor each respective location.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the call processor server 30 may be connectedwith a second Internet portal 66, which in turn may be connected with asecond IXC 68. The second IXC 68 may be connected with a second PSTN 70,which in turn may be connected with a second ILEC, CLEC, or RBOC 72 or asecond wireless access system 74. A second ISP 76 may also be connectedwith the second Internet portal 66 that is operable to allow varioustypes of call reception terminals 14 (e.g.—computer terminals, VoIPterminals) to communicate over the communication network 11.

As set forth above, the communication network 11 supports various typesof communication, preferentially voice communication, to be conductedbetween the calling terminal 12 and a receptive call reception terminal14 through the use of the primary contact number. As clearlyillustrated, there may be several network paths or communication linksthat exist between the calling terminal 12 and the call receptionterminal 14. Those skilled in the art would recognize that thecommunication network 11 illustrated in FIG. 1 should be viewed in anillustrative sense at that other components and other types of networkpaths could exist that are capable of establishing a communication linkbetween calling terminals 12 and call reception terminals 14.

Referring once again to FIG. 4, the calling module 64 calls all of thecall reception terminals 14 associated with the primary contact numberbeing dialed by the calling terminal 12. At step 78, if the callreceiver answers the call on a respective call reception terminal 14,the short introduction message recorded by the caller may be played backto the call receiver, which is represented at step 80. If the callreceiver does not answer the call, at step 78 the call may be sent to avoice mail application 56 after a predetermined period of time or numberof rings.

After the short introduction message is played to the call receiver atstep 80, the call receiver may be prompted to accept or decline thecall, which is represented at step 84. If the call receiver accepts thecall, the call is then connected to the associated call receptionterminal 14 by a call connection module 86. The call connection module86 establishes a communication link or talk path between the callingterminal 12 and the respective call reception terminal 14 that the callreceiver answers. If the call receiver declines to answer the call, thecall may be sent to the voice mail application 56. As clearly set forthin the description above, the contact number encapsulation system 10allows a user to associate a plurality of contact numbers with a singleprimary contact number, thereby reducing the amount of phone numberspeople have to remember in order to communicate with the user. The useronly needs to give out a single contact number to contacts instead ofhaving to provide multiple numbers to others so that individuals cancommunicate with the user at various locations.

As set forth above, when the caller enters the service option module 52,one of the options that the caller may be presented is to directly entervoice mail of the call receiver instead of attempting to reach the callreceiver. If the caller selects to leave a voice mail or is sent to thevoice mail application 56 in the event the call receiver does notanswer, the voice mail application 56 may prompt the caller to leave avoice mail and may record the voice mail, which is represented at step88. Although not illustrated, the voice mail message may be stored in avoice mail database and may be stored such that it is associated withthe call receiver (i.e.—the primary contact number). A voice mail emailmodule 90 may be used to automatically send an email to a designatedemail account of the call receiver that contains the voice mail messageas a file attachment in a designated file format.

The interactive voice response application 42 may also include a directconnection module 58 that may allow the call receiver to designate apredetermined contact number to be called if a caller dials the primarycontact number. The direct connection module 58 allows the call receiverto designate a predetermined contact number to be used instead of thelist of contact numbers used by the calling module 64. For example, thecall receiver may be on vacation and may want to use a vacation contactnumber instead of the list of contact numbers that are called by thecalling module 64.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the answering module 38 may also be operableto forward an incoming call to a facsimile module 94. If the answeringmodule 38 detects a facsimile signal when the incoming call is answered,the answering module 38 automatically switches into facsimile receptionmode and receives the incoming facsimile message through the facsimilemodule 94. After the facsimile is received, a facsimile email module 96may convert the facsimile into a predetermined file format and send thefile to a call receiver's designated email account. The call receivermay then view the facsimile by accessing an email application andopening up the attachment in a designated viewer.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the contact number encapsulation system 10 mayalso include a web-enabled user account interface 98 that allows anaccount holder to modify the account attributes associated with theirrespective primary contact number, which is illustrated in FIG. 5 at100. The account holder may access the user account interface 98 bylogging into their account via the Internet using a web-enabled terminal14. For instance, the account holder may use a terminal 14 to accesstheir account through ISP 76. The user account interface 98 functions asa control panel where the account holder may select and change variousoptions and settings.

A comprehensive contact number list 102 may be included that allows theaccount holder to designate all of the contact numbers they want calledwhen the primary contact number 100 receives an incoming data message(e.g.—telephone call, etc.). The comprehensive contact number list 102may include a plurality of contact number entry fields 104 that allow auser to enter designated contact numbers that they want the callingmodule 64 to contact or call if the primary contact number 100 iscontacted or dialed. The comprehensive contact number list 102 may bestored in the user database 44 and may be capable of being accessed bythe call processor server 30. A plurality of contact number enablementfields 106 may also be included that allow a user to turn on or offrespective contact numbers contained in the comprehensive contact numberlist 102.

The user account interface 98 may also include a personal operatordesignation field 108. The interactive voice response application 42 mayalso include an operator option that allows the account holder todesignate an operator number that is called if, for example, apredetermined data input is entered by the caller once the answeringmodule 38 answers the incoming call (e.g.—the caller presses “0” on akeypad of the terminal 12). For example, the account holder may have apersonal assistant and if “0” is pressed by the caller, the call maythen be routed to a contact number of the account holder's personalassistant. The direct transfer module 58 may be used to forward the callto a contact number entered in the personal operator designation field108.

A user availability status field 110 may also be included that allowsthe account holder to indicate whether or not they are available toreceive calls. If the account holder selects an unavailable option 112,the answering module 38 may automatically forward the call to the voicemail application 56. If the user selects an available option 114, theanswering module 38 may forward the call to the interactive voiceresponse application 42 or the multiple contact module 54. A calleridentification control field 116 may also be included that allows theaccount holder to turn on and off caller identification functions. Anincoming caller identification option 118 allows the account holder toenable the display of the contact number of the calling terminal 12 onthe call receiving terminal 14. A primary contact number option 120 maycause the calling module 64 to display the primary contact number of theaccount holder on the call receiving terminal 14 instead of the contactnumber of the calling terminal 12.

A call screening designation field 122 may be included that allows theaccount holder to enable or disable the portion of the multiple contactmodule 54 that prompts the caller to record a short introductionmessage. A screen activation option 124 and a screen deactivation option126 may be selected to turn this feature on and off. A passcode resetfield 128 may be included that allows the account holder to change theirrespective access passcode. This passcode may be used to accessvoicemail or change settings associated with the primary contact numberthrough the use of various types of remote terminals 14 (e.g.—wiredtelephones, wireless terminals, etc.) that may not have Internet accessor be web-enabled. An email address designation field 130 may also beincluded that allows the account holder to designate the email addressto which all voice mail messages and facsimiles may be forwarded. Astore entry option 132 may be included that causes the settings orchanges made by the account holder in the user account interface 98 tobe stored in the user database 44 that contains account data aboutrespective account holders assigned a primary contact number.

Referring to FIG. 6, the call receiving terminals 14 may also haveaccess to a service portal application 134 that may be accessed bydialing the primary contact number and pressing a predetermined key on akeypad of the terminal 14 (e.g.—by pressing the “*” key). The serviceportal application 134 allows account holders to modify settings orproperties associated with their respective account through the use ofterminals 14 that may not have Internet access by contacting the primarycontact number. As set forth above, the account holder may use keys on akeypad associated with the terminal 14 to navigate a menu basedinteractive system.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the service portal application 134 may includevarious options such as an enter voice mail option 136, a changeassigned contact numbers option 138, an availability designation option140, a turn off email delivery of voice mail option 142, a changepersonal operator number option 144, and a change recordedmessages/greetings option 146. All of the options and their respectivefunctionality should be readily apparent based on the detaileddescription of the embodiments set forth above and as such, they willnot be repeated. Once all of the changes are entered, when the userdisconnects or hangs up, the changes may be stored in the user database44.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7 a, the contact number encapsulation system 10is operable to establish a session between a calling terminal 12 and acall reception terminal 14 using SIP commands or methods. FIG. 7 arepresents a few illustrative SIP commands that may be used to establishthe session between the calling terminal 12 and the call receptionterminal 14. To initiate a session, the call router 24 may receive, ormay generate in response to an incoming call from the calling terminal12, an INVITE command 150 that is sent over the communication network10. The INVITE command 150 may be generated in response to a user of thecalling terminal 12 dialing a primary contact number associated with agiven user. The INVITE command 150 indicates that the user associatedwith the primary contact number is being invited to participate in thesession.

The call router 24 may forward the INVITE command 150 to the callprocessor server 30. As set forth in detail below, the call router 24uses a lookup routine to determine the IP address of the call processorserver 30. An SIP informational response 152 may be generated by thecall processor server 30 that may be sent to the call router 24. The SIPinformational response 152 may indicate that the call processor server30 is attempting or trying to add the session. A second SIPinformational response 154, which may also be passed to the call router24, may be generated by the call processor server 30 that indicates thatthe call processor server 30 is ringing the call reception terminal 14.

An acknowledge (“ACK”) command 156 may be generated by the call router24 to confirm that the call router 24 has received a final response fromthe call processor server 30 to the INVITE command 150. The ACK command156 is sent to the call processor server 30. Once the ACK command 156 isreceived, an add session command 158 may be generated by the callprocessor server 30 that adds the session. At this point, the sessionbetween the calling terminal 12 and the call reception terminal 14 isestablished and RTP may be used to directly transmit media contentbetween the respective terminals 12, 14. Once the session is over, atermination (“BYE”) command 160 may be generated by either the callrouter 24 or the call processor server 30 that indicates that thesession should be terminated. A delete session command 162 may then begenerated by the call processor server 30 that deletes the session.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7 b, as previously set forth, the SIP messageheader that the call processor 30 receives may contain various datafields and SIP commands. The SIP message header may contain anorigination field 164, a destination field 166, and a calleridentification field 168. The origination field 164 may include a callernumber field 172 and a caller IP address field 174. The caller numberfield 172 corresponds to the telephone number that is assigned to thecalling terminal 12. The caller IP address field 174 corresponds to theIP address that the call processor server 30 should route dataassociated with the call, which typically corresponds to the call router24.

The destination field 166 may include a primary contact number field 176and a primary contact IP address field 178. The calling terminal 12provides the information or data contained in the primary contact field176 when a user dials a primary contact number. When the callingterminal 12 makes a call or attempts to establish a session by dialing aprimary contact number, the call router 24 may obtain the primarycontact IP address field 178 associated with the primary contact numberfrom the database 28. The primary contact IP address field 178corresponds to the IP address of the call processing server 30. As such,the call router 24 and the call processor server 30 are able to obtainIP addresses for one another so that data can be directed to theappropriate destinations. The caller identification field 168 is aunique field that is used to identify a call. A router gateway machineidentification field 180 may be included to designate a particular callrouter 24 in case more than one call router 24 is associated with agiven caller IP address field 174.

As previously set forth, the call processing application 32 uses theinformation contained in the SIP message header to lookup andsimultaneously ring a plurality of contact numbers that are associatedwith the primary contact number. The simultaneous calling module 64creates a session between each call reception terminal 14 associatedwith the primary contact number. Once a user answers one of therespective terminals 14, media (e.g.—the audio portion of the phonecall) may be transmitted between the terminals 12, 14 using RTP. In thepreferred embodiment, the media is transmitted directly from the callprocessor server 30 to the Internet portal 22 and avoids the call router24.

While the present invention has been described with reference tospecific exemplary embodiments, it will be evident that variousmodifications and changes may be made to these embodiments withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the claims. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are tobe regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1. A contact number encapsulation system, comprising: a communicationnetwork; a first terminal connected with said communication networkoperable to place a call designating a primary contact number; a callprocessing server connected with said communication network, whereinsaid call processing server includes a call processing applicationoperable to receive incoming communication traffic from saidcommunication network associated with calls designating said primarycontact number; a multiple contact number lookup module operable toretrieve a list of contact numbers associated with said primary contactnumber; and a calling module operable to simultaneously establish aplurality of communication links between said first terminal and aplurality of call reception terminals associated with each contactnumber contained in said list of contact numbers.
 2. The contact numberencapsulation system of claim 1, further comprising a connection moduleoperable to establish a voice-based communication link between saidfirst terminal and a respective one of said plurality of call receptionterminals if said call is answered by said respective one call receptionterminal.
 3. The contact number encapsulation system of claim 1, whereinsaid call processing application uses a SIP message header to generatesaid list of contact numbers associated with said primary contactnumber.
 4. The contact number encapsulation system of claim 1, furthercomprising an interactive voice response application operable to providea plurality of menu based selection options to said first terminal,wherein said plurality of menu based selection options include at leasta contact dialed party option and a voice mail option.
 5. The contactnumber encapsulation system claim 4, wherein upon selection of saidcontact dialed party option a multiple contact module is operable toprompt a user of said first terminal to record a short introductionmessage, wherein said short introduction message is played to arespective one of said plurality of call reception terminals if saidcall is answered by said respective one call reception terminal, whereinsaid respective one call reception terminal is provided with aconnection option operable to establish a voice-based communicationsession between said first terminal and said respective one callreception terminal if accepted by a call receiver or forward said callto a voice mail application if not accepted by said call receiver. 6.The contact number encapsulation system of claim 1, further comprising afacsimile module operable to detect an incoming facsimile from saidfirst terminal, wherein said facsimile module further includes afacsimile email module operable to convert said incoming facsimile intoa predetermined digital file and forward said predetermined digital fileto a user designated email account.
 7. The contact number encapsulationsystem of claim 1, further comprising a web-enabled user accountinterface operable to allow an account holder to modify said list ofcontact numbers.
 8. The contact number encapsulation system claim 1,further comprising a voice control portal application operable to allowan account holder to modify said list of contact numbers from arespective remote terminal.
 9. A method of calling a plurality ofterminals in a communication network, comprising the steps of:associating a primary contact number with a predetermined user; callingsaid primary contact number using a first terminal; routing said callfrom said first terminal to a call processing application located on acall processor server connected with said communication network;retrieving a list of contact numbers associated with said primarycontact number; simultaneously calling each contact number contained insaid list of contact numbers; and connecting said call with a respectiveterminal associated with one of said contact numbers contained in saidlist of contact numbers if said predetermined user answers said call.10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of directing saidcall to voice mail if said user does not answer said call after apredetermined amount of time.
 11. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising the step of recording a voice mail message and transmittingsaid voice mail message to a user designated email account as an audiofile attachment.
 12. The method of claim 9, further comprising the stepof allowing said user to modify said list of contact numbers from aweb-enabled user account interface.
 13. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising the step of allowing said user to modify said list of contactnumbers using a voice control portal application.
 14. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising the step of detecting an incoming facsimile.15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of receivingsaid incoming facsimile and converting said incoming facsimile to apredetermined digital file and transmitting said digital file to a userdesignated email account.
 16. A contact number encapsulation system,comprising: a communication network; a first terminal connected withsaid communication network operable to place a call to a primary contactnumber; a call processing server connected with said communicationnetwork, wherein said call processing server includes a call processingapplication operable to receive incoming communication traffic from saidcommunication network associated with calls designating said primarycontact number; a multiple contact number lookup module operable toretrieve a list of contact numbers associated with said primary contactnumber, wherein an SIP message header associated with said call is usedto retrieve said list of contact numbers associated with said primarycontact number; a simultaneous calling module operable to simultaneouslyring a plurality of call reception terminals associated with said listof contact numbers; a connection module operable to establish acommunication link between said first terminal and a respective one ofsaid plurality of call reception terminals if said call is answered bysaid respective one call reception terminal; an interactive voiceresponse application operable to provide a plurality of menu basedselection options to said first terminal, wherein said plurality of menubased selection options include at least a contact dialed party optionand a voice mail option, wherein upon selection of said contact dialedparty option a multiple contact module is operable to prompt a user ofsaid first terminal to record a short introduction message, wherein saidshort introduction message is played to a respective one of saidplurality of call reception terminals if said call is answered by saidrespective one call reception terminal, wherein said respective one callreception terminal is provided with a connection option operable toconnect said call or forward said call to a voice mail application; afacsimile module operable to detect an incoming facsimile from saidfirst terminal, wherein said facsimile module further includes afacsimile email module operable to convert said incoming facsimile intoa predetermined digital file and forward said predetermined digital fileto a user designated email account; a web-enabled user account interfaceoperable to allow an account holder to modify said list of contactnumbers; and a voice control portal application operable to allow anaccount holder to modify said list of contact numbers from a respectiveremote terminal not having Internet access.